Hi Meryl,

I am Cindy and parent to a 9 yr old daughter. Welcome to AW. How are you?

Thanks mom!

First, I have to say that your daughter is beautiful... I'm glad that she is accepting the condition, although i'm sure she has some rough days. I'm the same as you... never did put any emphasis on my hair just wash and let air dry, but I did with my daughters.. up until now that is. She was born with lots of hair and it was always so long and gorgeous. She loves to put clips in, hair bands, ponytails... just loves to be "done up". It has been about 3 months now that we have noticed the hair loss. She had a severe bout of gastroenteritis in the middle of April and a couple days later I noticed her hair falling out in the tub and lots of hair on her bed. We were able to hide the spots pretty good up until about 2 weeks ago... it seems she has lost about 70% of her scalp hair so far... mostly on the back and the sides... now it's starting to thin out on the top. We are contemplating shaving it. She has a lot of regrowth though... alot of grassy patches of new hair coming in where the hair fell out first, so we're hoping this is a good sign. I noticed also her eyebrows are starting to thin out and the peachfuzz on her back has thinned out considerably aswell. I have a feeling it's going to progress to Universal... but I'm hoping and praying that it doesn't. We have no family history of alopecia either, although my mother, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law all have hypothyroidism. The dermatologists are tying it in with the alopecia areata. That's our story... it's been a rough little bit... considering I'm pregnant now with my 3rd child due next month. Thanks for answering my questions.. I'm sure I'll have tons more as time goes on.

Thank you for your comment on my thread. Since your daughter did start losing her hair at the age of three, I hope you don't mind my askign you some questions. I was wondering how it started... was she sick and then a few days later noticed hair loss? What was the pattern of hair loss? How fast did she lose it? Do you have a history of alopecia in the family? I just have so many questions... and i really don't know who to ask. Thanks in advance!